we can surely use a laugh

 Chef Sarah recommended Leanne and yes, it is just what I need at this particular time. Southern women doing the best they can and having some fun too. Netflix.

friends, art and food

 Sarah and Sam were kind enough to invite me to the Helen Berggruen artist exhibit yesterday, I love her work and they are friends of hers up in Napa. That was very special. And THEN...talk about special. We went to Zuni for a spectacular dinner. The roast chicken was as glorious as ever and then all the extras and the delightful atmosphere. It was such a wonderful time. I am so fortunate. And still full...

music has no borders

 This documentary on Prime was a pleasant break from detective stories and the news last night. From 2020 when Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne joined a bus tour to Mexico for music and dancing. Linda and the Mockingbirds is positive and refreshing.

perhaps he will fall

Trump is walking on the White House roof today. He has already paved over the Rose Garden and turned the Oval Office into a fake gold filled mess. Such difficult times for all of us reasonable people.
 

yes, we all agree

 Geneva sent me this photo from her recent trip to Frankfurt, Germany. A bit hard to read, but a good one:

                                                               UNFUCK THE WORLD! 

the newlywed grands

 Heidi and I drove down to Burlingame yesterday for brunch with Samantha and Luke. A really nice time and delicious food at Alana's Cafe. The best news is that the family will gather at my house again for Thanksgiving and we all hope that Sister Jane will be here too. I will start bugging her now. By the way, they have sunshine everyday in Burlingame, 20 minutes away. 

congratulations ~ 20 years!

 Today Mr. and Ms. Blogmaid celebrate their wedding anniversary and we all send them love and gratitude and wow, tons of wonderful memories in those two decades. It seems like only yesterday, as the old folks say. Well, it does.

salad nicoise

 We had sunshine yesterday. Now what? I was invited to lunch at Gini's and we had a pleasant time catching up with all of our news. Some bitching, of course, about aches and pains, etc., but that just goes with the territory in this chapter of our lives. 

I'm 0-3 in 2025

 Back to the Jewel with Amy yesterday. I have attended three games and all have been great for the opposing teams. Argh. Still, the front row View Box seats were terrific and the weather wasn't quite as bad as it looks and well, you know, it's baseball. Also, Tony's pizza is delicious.

I'm a Jodie Foster fan

 Jen with 2 dogs recommended this film on Netflix and it is NOT easy to watch, so I just did half last night and I will finish it tonight. But, wow, it is great. Benedict Cumberbach and Shailene Woodley are also in the cast I did cancel AT&T and everything takes a bit more work currently, but I am chugging along and trying to maintain by sunny (hahahahahaha) attitude. The Mauritanian is based on a true story.

cutting the cord

 Yesterday I downloaded YouTube TV and today I will say goodbye to AT&T which we hooked up with in 2017 when it was cheaper than Comcast. Thanks to Terri for her encouragement and support. I'm just not good with this kind of technical stuff but I can no longer justify the expense of AT&T when YouTubeTV is only $83 a month. And yes, I deserve all sorts of pats on the back. So far, anyway.

a new restaurant ~ soon!

 The sign for Precita Social was up when I walked by yesterday. This will be a burger and oyster dinner spot with a famous chef (Greg Lutes who lives here in Bernal Heights) at the helm. I hope it isn't too expensive. I like walking to/fro dinner. Fingers crossed as it is supposed to open in 3 weeks or so.

The New Colossus (in full)

THE NEW COLOSSUS

People regrettably quote only the last few lines of Emma Lazarus’s beautiful poem. Here is the whole thing:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

women who rock

 We four celebrated Neti's birthday last week at the Mission Rock and you can see actual blue sky in the top photo. Outside dining! What a treat. At table, from the left: Pat, Neti, Jeanine and the Blogger.

Eddington, New Mexico

 Yesterday I met Nicole at the Alamo for this very strange, too violent movie Eddington. Anything with Emma Stone is worth seeing, in my opinion, but I don't really recommend this one, although I am glad I saw it. That makes little sense. A major role is played by the Covid Pandemic as the world comes to terms with those really strange times. 

I like so far

 Women make such great detectives and Ballard is no exception. I shopped around a bit for a new series and have settled on this one, I think. The plot is good and there are some beautiful ocean scenes to enjoy along with a bit of subtle humor. On Prime. 

birthday dinner with pasta

 Sorry about the photos ~ by now you realize that I have never quite mastered the editing tools. But hey, I'm a writer, not a photographer. My nice neighbors invited me to join them to celebrate Rob's birthday last night up at Vega on Cortland. Such a delightful family and they are so very good to me. From the left: me, Heidi, Evan, Peter and Rob. A really nice evening.

for the September book club

 I just added Theft to my LindaKindle4 and hope to start reading it this afternoon. As you can almost see, Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize in Literature for this novel and I am looking forward to discovering a new (to me) author. Stay tuned...

ummmm, we guessed this

 June Gloom, No-Sky-July and soon Fogust.  Some call it Marine Layer, but it is fog, good old fog. Do I mind? Not one bit. I have one "summer outfit", maybe two. I am Fireplace Woman with lots of blankets and tea and books and of course, the cat. Also, no need to water the garden very often as this fog is almost like rain. And yes, I read about heat waves all over and I am not envious. Not one bit. Brrrrrr.

an excellent Saturday

 I met Dancing Jen at the Wayfare Tavern downtown on Pine Street yesterday. I love this restaurant which was busy, warm and welcoming with great American food ~ I had never been there before and it was a FIND and I will return. The best part was catching up with Jen, of course. People are returning to SF, I'm happy to report ~ tourists and locals. Yay!

the friends, the food, the book

 Yesterday we met at Laurence's for fish stew and yes, I "cooked" again, this time a pretty summer tomato/watermelon salad and we had a delightful few hours talking about This Tender Land and a gazillion other things. A very good Friday to be sure.

a lovely Anna visit

 It's been too long since we've been blessed with a visit from Anna who lives on a sheep farm in upper New York state. So much news to catch up on so we gathered at Doug and Barb's for coffee and cherries and lots of chit chat. We urged her to rejoin the writing group now that she has her Master's in DEI Education and yes, not great timing for that. But still, congratulations!

this poem, ths poem

 

Kids Running After a Car

Hee-June Choi

after the Korean War

Asphalt covered half the street; the rest wasovergrown with sunberries we ate. At the sound of a horn,we ran to the car; in its bluish smoke, we sawour future like a 3-D film. When my friendJC tied his feet to the back bumper of a jeepto sneak a ride, its engine started;market people screamed as his bleeding headwas dragged for a hundred yards.Our most daring venture was to the mountain caveto dig out bullets for spinning tops’ axles.But we had to cross locals’ territory—my foreheadstill bears the scar of a thrown stone.These road brawls ended when someonein the cave shouted: Corpses!—soldiers in a mass grave.Yet, those were carefree days. Dropping by any houseat mealtime, I ate with them if they laid me a place—if not, I played next to their dinner table.House doors were left unlocked:what thief would steal an empty bag of rice?In summer, we slept in the public pool’s storage shack,no parents looking for us.It was the children’s utopia: what we didn’t have,we didn’t need. Even now, walking my suburban streetlate at night, I snoop around for remnants of those days:that sour tailpipe smoke must be a shimmerin the air somewhere on Earth.

a writing tip from Ms. Groff

 I will borrow this from the Program Notes that I picked up at Z Space on Sunday. The longer that I write the more I realize that I really do this for myself. I solve problems, cleanse memories, learn to accept life on life's terms.

"Take a long look at your dread or your shame ~ whatever beasts you're fighting ~ to square yourself to them, invite them into your work, and let their energy spur you."

~Lauren Groff, Electric Literature 2018

in many ways it is Too Much

 I've been watching Lena Dunham's new Netflix series Too Much and I'm good for one episode a night. A whole lot of sex, drugs, humor, sorrow, music and fabulous costumes. I can't really recommend it, on the other hand, I can't stop watching all these colorful people. Go figure...

The Z Space on Sunday

 What a treat. Thanks to this very blog I was able to remember that I read parts of Annunciation by Lauren Groff as a short story back in 2015 when the world was young and innocent. Sort of. Yesterday was a terrific adaptation by Word For Word at Z Space where I met Pat and we both so enjoyed this amazing production. A young woman leaves her family to come to the Bay Area. Sound familiar?

photos from Amsterdam

 I met a new friend at the Giants game on Wednesday. She is a pilot and on Friday she flew to Amsterdam and I asked for a photo, any photo, as I have never been there. She sent some glorious ones giving me a real sense of that beautiful city. The Tulip Museum is across the river in this shot. I feel joy this morning.

yes, we Wordle

 Some people use the same start word (arise, orate, e.g.) but I usually just find some 5-letter guess word and twice I hit the jackpot with the #1 win. Once was CLEAN and then lately it was JUMPY. Every once in awhile I will miss the word (eeeew) and I didn't play in Chicago so my record is not great. But Wordle is definitely part of my morning ritual. 

Friday morning ritual

 Bernal Bread has a pop-up store down by Precita Park every Friday morning. My neighbor Heidi and I walk down to join the breadline and then have coffee at Charlie's Cafe afterwards. Today was particularly nice with the sun burning off the fog earlier than usual. Gratitude (again).

bad ball game, good day

 The Giants lost 13-0 yesterday, if you can possibly imagine. The sun was out and the Jewel was packed and my ticket was a freebie. I had a fine time, despite the game.

a wonderful rare finish

 Patrick Bailey's walk-off-inside-the-park home run last night was very special and I have been watching it this morning and I will see it again on the big screen today as I am going to the game. We beat the Phillies two games in a row and I'm looking forward to some fun in the fog.

guerrilla benches

 The San Francisco Bay Area Bench Collective has built and installed eight wooden benches near bus stops where we need them most. Of course the city officials are having a fit and worrying about law suits and insurance and paperwork and blah, blah. But it sure feels good to sit some days, right?

an unexpected treat

 My friends John and Mary (of Ashland fame) have ACT tickets and yesterday John didn't feel like taking BART from Oakland to The Strand and so I was invited to this great musical Co-founders, and I had a terrific time with Mary and we both loved this world premiere (!) of the hip-hop musical, which originated here in the Bay Area with four friends.  Lots of high tech start-up Silicon Valley touches with great staging and some almost magical dancing and singing. A Sunday afternoon of fun.